Aadhaar for the rich

          The longer you stay on in bureaucracy, you are convinced that no matter how well meaning your actions or thoughts, you are always under a cloud of suspicion. 5 years back the Chief of my organization was arrested for bribery and corruption. In the intervening years, I have seen ordinary, earnest Babus being implicated for taking perfectly legitimate decisions under given circumstances. The Coal sector had become the cynosure of attention. My friends in the bureaucracy swear by the integrity of some of the Officers who were implicated in the Coal affair. It has become fashionable to point fingers at everyone without an iota of proof. Mainstream media and social networks have compartmentalized public perceptions on governance and public administration into black and white boxes. You are either good or bad. There is no earnest attempt to plug loopholes in our traditional processes of public management.

      But what happens when perfectly sensible people clamour against the implementation of one of the greatest administrative reforms ? I hold no brief to any political party. Having seen how Delhi functions from very close quarters, I am sure that the substitution of one political party with another can't make any great difference.

   The Aadhaar project was rolled out for the poor. When the project was launched , this blogger was excited at the promises it held for transformation of our management of public programs. As a public servant who doesn't normally come across the Aam Admi on a daily basis, I believe that many administrative reforms do not make an impact to daily life. Let me talk of the problems we face. Occasionally one is involved in the process of large scale induction of manpower. We get to see a large number of educated youngsters queuing up for jobs. The latest scam goes like this. Specialists from certain parts of the country will come and write exams on your behalf. For Group C posts in the Government, there are no interviews. So selections are based on written exams. Once the exams are cleared, the real candidate comes to take up the job. Money changes hands for appearing for exams. Nowadays we insist on producing identity proof in the exam hall. But there are ingenious methods of overcoming this problem with smart editing of documents and photographs. If the identity of the person taking the exam could be vetted through Aadhaar, then this fraud could be easily curbed. (Believe me it is a serious problem- there are people in this country who would do anything for government jobs).  

                      Even the financial inclusion project could have been linked to Aadhaar so as to ensure that the figures that are being touted are genuine. Bankers are known for their sense of caution and prudence when it comes to opening bank accounts to low income customers. (Kingfisher Airlines could have faced less rigorous scrutiny). It is quite possible that a large number of bank accounts were opened in the names of individuals who already have a Bank account. A mechanism for incorporating or seeding Aadhaar No:s into all existing PAN No:s, Passports and Bank accounts could de-duplicate the whole process. In a populous country such as India, identifying true beneficiaries and weeding out ghost beneficiaries is a big challenge.  The academicians and Civil liberties activists can never understand these challenges. When Aadhaar was linked to Gas subsidies in one state, the demand came down drastically.What if public distribution system is linked to Aadhaar so that the PDS rice or kerosene doesn't find its' way to the black market ? Instead of routing fertilizer subsidies to inefficient firms who gold plate their accounts, we could probably spend a portion of it by granting it directly to the farmer with Aadhaar.
            If credit cards can be vetted online by a ubiquitous small machine, what prevents us from inventing/ rolling out a machine which can read a thumbprint/ scan iris and confirm that the person is who he claims to be ? This instrument could then be made available in large numbers at immigration check points, Banks, ration shops, registration Offices, treasury and Post Offices. If we can incorporate sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse, why can't we roll it out for effective management of subsidies, entitlements (including rural Job guarantee schemes), pensions, scholarships etc ?

                   Unfortunately, politics often takes precedence over perfectly legitimate decisions. The Parliamentary committee that studied the Aadhaar project has given it a damning report. The ex-Chief Minister of Kerala has attacked the project as a conspiracy of global multinationals to sell their wares in India. (When it is headed by a person figuring in the Fortune's richest list- what is he going to do with bribes from MNCs when he has made enough for three generations and also contributes a lot to charity?) Strangely enough, the clamour grows louder from privacy advocates, academicians and  liberals etc. They claim that the identity project could lead to a gruesome weapon in the hands of the government, which in turn can use it for electoral alchemy, telemarketing, snooping and myriad other sins. (only those working in the government know the extent of our incompetence to carry out any of the aforesaid crimes)  And the government wrings its hands with  contradictions in parliament over questions on cooking gas subsidy. Luckily the new Government has endorsed the Aadhaar project (after promising to close it down during the campaign stage)

               Nilekani's book outlines the need for identity for the poor. But why are we ignoring the elephant in the room? What if Aadhaar is linked to property holdings and securities transactions. While we talk of the benefits it can bring to the poor, why are we ignoring the potential to curb the frauds perpetrated by the rich ? Benami holding of property, fraudulent property/ shares transactions, skimming of benefits meant for the poor, under-declared income everything could be managed more effectively. What if property can be registered or sold in the country only if it is linked to Aadhaar number of the buyer/seller ? If the scheme is rolled out with earnestness, it can become the greatest administrative reform of the century. Just like the Electronic Voting Machine is unique which has caught the fancy of the world. By infusing a good dose of technology into the process, we can not only do away with the need for large number of public servants to manage the country, but also manage it more effectively.